Down By The River - Chapter 12 - Mildura & the Houseboat Day 8

DOWN BY THE RIVER

Chapter 12 – Mildura & the Houseboat Day 8

The sun had just started to rise over the river as the houseboat lurched as another went by. 

The majesty of the Mighty Murray even on a grey day like today is mirrored in the calmness of the water which in time returned after the other vessel’s departure from sight.

Lyn, has begun to feel unwell. At first, she tried to ignore the symptoms, but they only worsened. There is consternation in camp over the next course of action. We are well into the holiday so going home will not overly affect the experience but the group was immediately concerned about Lyn’s health. 

We have to re-stock anyway so we were looking to head back into Mildura for a shop in any event, we will see how she goes and make the decision as we are tied up. As an omen perhaps, a flock of birds in geometric formation fly over heading in the direction we seek to travel today.

The grey day clears somewhat the further we get towards “civilisation”. Seemingly with the clearing of the clouds, Lyn’s health improves. Finally its her call to stay “on message” and on vacation. There are things that still need to be done as we, both families (and businesses), like to use the skills of the other to enhance our offerings to the public in our marketing and other skills. Lyn and Maurice are particularly savvy marketers and skilled in the social media presence, whereas Robyn and I are more business management attuned. The coupling of the two different skill sets helps all.

As the sunset paints its ochres across the river into the gums lining the Murray, we have parked in what seems to be quite a well used picnic spot. I manage to fall across a log while tying up the houseboat and injure myself – par for the course my wife might suggest, but I have trouble laughing about it, meaning I may have cracked a rib or at least dislodged a rib cartilage as I am prone to do with the costa chondritis condition I struggle with. Of course the others add fuel to the incident, and the pain, with their chortling.

Sometimes, as we learned from EL Questro, a sunset looking east can be even more stunning than looking towards the setting sun and today is one of those days. With the full moon rising over the glassed off river over gum trees laden with light enhancing all the colours of their trunks and surrounds. The darkening line of shadow wandering up their trunks until although there is light the eerie darkness of the dusk descends into the bush.

Jim Stafford’s Swamp Witch – “and the swamp (here at least the bush) is alive with a thousand eyes, and all of the watching you” brings one to wonder what sort of activities, both daylight and nocturnal might be happening behind the facade that lines the river bank. 

Thankfully here on the Murray there are no crocodiles whose eyes like red beacons pollute the waterways of the north. We wont talk about the 9 or so varieties of world’s most venomous snake that Australia has and of which some species inhabit the surrounding bush, nor will we talk about drop bears or other thighs that go bonk in the night. We know that in our cocoon that is the houseboat we will be safe. No CJ Dennis reciting Hist here.

It was an innocuous fall but the damage is anything but. I head to the bedroom to compose myself and nod off for a while. Christopher Columbus as quoted by Sean Connery playing Captain Marco Ramius in the Hunt for Red October (1990 Paramount Pictures) suggested “… and the sea will grant each man new hope, as sleep brings dreams of home.” Home and pain, things that are resurrected in nightmares.

Maybe its the pain of the fall but sleep turns itself inside out to other times of pain. Times when I dragged a horse on top of myself while breaking it in. The horse had ducked its head (began to buck for those no equine people amongst us) and in for the fights of wills, I managed to get his head up but in doing the over compensating balancing act saw it keep coming into a back flip with the stock saddle depth being the only thing cushioning the blow of the sandwich of horse (almost 1 tonne) and the ground hardened with traffic and summer’s lack of water.

Initially blacked out, I was shaken from unconsciousness with the blinding pain of the car bouncing down our access road towards the hospital some 20 miles away. No point calling the ambulance in her mind but the cracked pelvis and broken arm unbeknown to her now waking me and making me keenly alert to the situation, meant the mental acuity of opening my mouth and asking (read her screaming at the top of my voice) for her to slow down, gave her some calm.

The results of the X-Rays did a lot more.

Adding insult to injury, the only retort from my father on our eventual return from the mad dash to town was his need to continue the breaking in process on a horse that had “won” the last battle. His descriptions were all around the horse and his fears about climbing on him.

That horse went on to be one of our best, winning many show jumping events.

Now the pain of simply rolling over re-lives that experience.

Breath back, and the pain now under control thanks to some pain medication, its back up and at em. Certainly not at the pace of before and definitely not light hearted in spirit – the pain medication works only so far. 

The picnic spot may be popular but that’s probably because neither the phone or the internet work here. Seems a perfect time to break out the white board – yes we packed a white board (if only for Pictionary play) along with flip charts – and start doodling ideas.

One might suggest that because we are now developing business strategies on the trip, all our costs have now become tax deductible – but that is a discussion for another day. But for now, ideas, concepts and how to monetise them wander onto and just as quickly off the board. A lot of the banter during the trip has been business oriented as some ideas bubble to the top of mind brought on by the conversation. Now without the potential distraction of phone ringing or emails demanding attention, we can simply sit and talk.

Many a time in forums just like this, breakthroughs are made and successful products conceptualised and the initial planning done to bring them to market. Other times what seemed brilliant ideas quashed through highlighting initially unseen factors. Its amazing how the outside looking in can discern differently to those encompassed inside.

We go around the table seeking the ideas of each. The white board and flip charts struggle to keep up as we take our turn to bring dreams to the table, until pictures for evidence are taken, the flip charts taken down and the next member gets their time to hold the floor. 

There are no right and wrong here, only ideas, thoughts and perceptions. Negatives are seen as opportunities to reconsider. Positives a chance to go to the next step and expand even further beyond the confines of the initial thought. For us in small business with no one else, like minded (not so much in particular line of business but certainly in the drive for success) to talk to on a daily basis, times like these are invaluable.

Its taken 8 days to get to this point, and because of the pressures of business still polluting the vacation through its inability to sever us from that pressure, may not have been enough, a night like this may not be perfect in its results but may be the best value for the price of admission alone.

When we finally head to bed, all is packed up and put away, but certainly the sum of what we have packed is far greater than the inputs we brought to the session, or the holiday for that matter.